pop and God

Audience member:
Hello, I have two questions. The first one may be similar to the one before. I'm wondering what do you think on what exactly is the role of C-pop play in helping each other understand [trails off].. for example, Psy's Gangnam Style, it was a huge hit and it was successful, but most people just heard it as a song from a Korean but not really think about the Korean culture behind it, so I'm just wondering how do you think Chinese pop music can really play the role to help each other understand [more of the Chinese culture] as individuals but not just as just Chinese [Ed: I think this was a really good question that could have been worded better].

My second question is whether you recognize [consider] yourself a Christian and if so, I'm wondering what you think is the way of living a Christian life for you.

Leehom:
For me? Okay, wow. All right. Let's talk about Psy first, and then we'll talk about God.

I don't think we can put too much pressure on Psy on one song. I'm really really excited and I'm happy for that phenomenon, and I think it shows possibilities that didn't exist before, but we can't say that, "and that saves us from all our problems and solves everything for us." It is just one song, but hopefully it is the beginning of much more, and I think it is. And so are the co-productions that we see are happening in China right now. But I think they are mostly economically driven because China's box office is so strong that these tent-pole projects from the movie companies in Hollywood wants to tap into that, and it's so much easier to do when you have got Fan Bin Bing or Li Bing Bing, or Zhang Xue Qi.. [corrects himself] Wang Xue Qi, playing a role and on a poster, "oh 我要去看" and people get excited by that.

Your second question: I do consider myself a Christian, and that has been a very big part of my life, especially recently. I think for an artist, who is constantly trying to create and search and just to listen and to reach into thin air and come up with something that speaks to the heart and speaks to the the soul and look for inspiration. I look around human history and some of the greatest arts and some of the greatest music being religiously motivated, religiously based and inspired, and I don't think that's an accident. Well that speaks a lot to me, and my relationship with God and as a Christian has been very important as an artist. I don't know what to say what the best way to live a Christian life is, but I think as a Christ follower, I think that's more of the politically correct way to say it these days.

note: some minor grammatical corrections made. leaving the rest be.

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I thought those were very good questions -- ones that I would have asked too :D I had to listen and read his answers a good few times to connect the questions and answers (my "tempo" was way off his on this I guess). But one thing I didn't get was what he meant by but I think as a Christ follower, I think that's more of the politically correct way to say it these days. I thought that was confusing, especially when he ended the answer with just that. I think he could have just ended it without the last sentence.

Anyhoo... I was actually very glad that he was asked and answered the question about his faith, because I've always wished he was a wee bit more vocal about it. And I think his answer is so true, because as a pseudo-artist myself *cough* that was the gist of how I think an artist relates to his Creator.. esp the part about reaching into thin air for an inspiration to create something that could stir the hearts of men.. Is it weird that I sometimes pray for him? Haha.. but I do hope that his relationship with God is a vibrant one, and I'm thankful that he has many friends and co-workers who profess the faith, so that iron may sharpen iron. :)

Well, he generally doesn't really talk about his relationship with God much (maybe because he wasn't specifically asked about them, unlike how the girl did in the video. the pesky paparazzi is only interested in his love life, and because it (sadly) doesn't exist, they have constant field days making stories up, one more bizarre than another, or they kept digging up old rumors about supposed former ex-flames). But this song was one of the times when he was more explicit with his faith. He wrote it back in 1996, putting himself in the shoes of Noah as the patriarch experienced the flood. I could relate to the emotions and thoughts that the song was trying to convey, and hence it is here on my top 20 list of fav LH tracks :)

#4 Noah

P/S: I've also written about this song here.